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Name: Kathy Parks
Position: Reporter
Biography:
"I've never been one for doing things the conventional way.
For me, it was career first, then two kids, and then
college. When I left the working-world to raise kids, I knew
I would never want to leave them, but to my surprise, they
grew up and left me. I knew it was time to get a life!"
Kathy enrolled in "community college" so she could stay in
the neighborhood with her teenagers and took a few classes
at a time. Unexpectedly, she says, she was an honor student
and inducted into Phi Theta Kappa.
"They even gave me an award for extraordinary work in
mathematics. Anyone who knows me knows what an odd turn of
events that was." Kathy took her first news writing class
from Cynthia Calvert through Kingwood College. "I loved
the people I met at her newspaper and I loved the idea that
I was serving the community." She wrote opinion, news,
crime features, business, politics and community stories.
"The stories I came across in the suburbs amazed me. I felt
like I was having the experience of a lifetime once a week."
She went on to become editor of two newspapers in Spring,
her hometown. "I loved every minute of it, but still, I
had a nagging feeling that I hadn't finished with my kids or
my degree. I left the paper and transferred to University of
Houston to finish my studies and I served my internship at
the Conroe Courier." Kathy then graduated from the
University of Houston with a major in journalism and a minor
in English. "My last semester at U of H was my son's first
semester at Texas A&M. I tease him because I graduated with
a 4.0 in my major and a 3.7 overall. I made the Dean's List
and am a National Collegiate Scholar. I graduated on
December 15, 2006, and within days, my previous editor and
teacher, Cynthia Calvert, called to tell me she and her
husband were starting their own paper. She asked if I'd like
to help build it. I couldn't resist. I'm reporting again and
loving it! I've been happily married for 27 years, and
loving that too! I have nine pets."
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